Six limited-edition Lotus Elises are on offer through its five Australian dealers.
The “Bathurst Cup250” editions of the lightweight sports car offers both a tribute to the Esprit of Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me and the brand’s low-volume but highly passionate customer base.
More than just the individual build plates from one to six, the Bathurst Cup250 offers the 1.8-litre supercharged and intercooled four-cylinder ramped up to 181kW (from the standard Elise’s 162kW), unique-tuned Bilstein dampers which are stiffer at the front and rear, and an open-gate manual gearbox.
AP Racing twin-piston front and Brembo rear brake calipers add even greater stopping power, an adjustable front anti-roll bar with fully independent, double wishbone suspension, and forged 16-inch front and 17-inch rear alloys with Yokohama Advan A052 semi-slick tyres make for one mighty track-honed machine.
Lotus Cars Australia managing director Lee Knappett (right) tells AutoTalk the Bathurst Cup250 isn’t supposed to be comfortable.
“Inputs for the specification were taken from the dealer network who attended our 2019 Bathurst Track Day,” he says.
“The primary objective was to create a package that was a bit unique and offered a package benefit to the buyer, both in terms of the inclusions for the price and the limited number,” he explains.
Knappett says the local operation had to pull some strings to secure production of the Monaco White paint colour.
“This is the timeline it took to agree on a specification and work with the factory to get it into the build schedule as additional cars to what we had originally forecast (in sales) for this region,” he explains.
He says the Bathurst Cup250 drew on inspiration with customers.
“In February 2019, over 100 cars and 150-plus customers participated in our day and we decided to celebrate this with a special edition car,” he points out.
“Lotus Cars Australia has built a strong enthusiast and track day community, and our Lotus-only Bathurst days are the centrepiece,” Knappelt adds.
